Miami schools consider new student-press guidelines

For nearly two decades, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has enjoyed a reputation as one of the strongest advocates of the student press.

Support for student-press freedoms was so strong that when the pivotal Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier went before the U.S. Supreme Court more than a decade ago, the system's school board filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the students who claimed their work had been censored.

But student-press experts say they fear a proposal to draft new guidelines — rules that would grant principals the right to censor articles — would cut deeply into the press rights Miami students have long enjoyed.

“It's very important that we keep the freedom of the press that's been in Miami and Dade County all along,” said Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, associate dean of journalism at Florida International University and president-elect for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. “We need to keep it going.”

According to a proposal under review by the Miami-Dade County School Board, principals would have the final say on student publications but couldn't change anything without a “specific educational purpose,” said Russ Wheatley, who heads the redrafting effort.

“You just can't go in there with a red pencil and mark through things just because you don't like it personally,” Wheatley said. “But teachers, as well as students, need to understand the responsibility lies with the principal.”

The revised guidelines were met with disappointment by some students.

“I would hate for a well-written story to be kept back because the principal feels it will tarnish the school,” said Kanika Frazier, a front-page editor of the Carol City High School newspaper.

The new rules are being prepared at the request of Superintendent Roger Cuevas, three months after nine Killian High School students were arrested and suspended after publication of a booklet filled with racist comments, depictions of rape and threats against their principal. The pamphlet was not school-sanctioned.

“What does this do? It punishes the good kids,” said Shirley Yaskin, adviser to Palmetto High School's paper. “It punishes the journalism students who are interested in really helping change in their school.”

Under the proposal, teacher-advisers must bring to the attention of principals anything “they feel uncomfortable with or may cause controversy,” Wheatley said. Principals also would be instructed to consult school district attorneys over controversial material.

If Cuevas approves the proposed guidelines, they will go to the board for consideration in July.

“The saddest thing is this thing seems to be prompted by non-school sponsored expression,” said Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. “The school has very limited control of that. Basically they are changing standards for school-sponsored speech because of things students have done in non-sponsored events.

“And it doesn't make sense,” Goodman said. “It's backwards.”

The school system currently follows an 18-year policy of allowing students full First Amendment rights to publish. It remained a system-wide policy even after the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood that school officials can censor school-sponsored student expression if they have a legitimate educational reason for doing so.

Goodman said the school board attempted to change the policy in the early 1990s, but a determined, articulate group of student journalists approached the board, urging members not to restrict students' press rights.

“The school board realized this would be a grave mistake, so they didn't do it,” Goodman said. “Unfortunately, I think, the times have changed.”

Kopenhaver, a journalism educator who helped draft the original policy in 1980, said the school system should be proud of its students' work. She said the newspapers, yearbooks and magazines regularly win national awards.

“We set these guidelines almost two decades ago,” Kopenhaver said. “And they have served the system and students well. I hope they will long and hard before they consider changing them.”

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.